Footprints in the Sand
by Vampire00Diaries
Summary: Knowing that they both need an escape from reality, Stefan takes Elena on a vacation to the Caribbean. One-shot. SE Fluff. AU


**Stefan and Elena: Footprints in the Sand**

_**Requested by Anonymous**_

_**AN: This fanfic is AU, meaning that it doesn't really matter when it takes place. I'm going to say that this probably happens sometime after season 3 though (because we all know how much I'm rooting for Stelena endgame!) Hope you enjoy! :D**_

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><p>It was still pitch black outside when he came in.<p>

I was peacefully woken from slumber when I heard Stefan walking around to my side of the bed with his heavy boots on. Even in my dazed state, it was clear that it was him by the way those ridiculous boots -that somehow looked incredibly sexy on him- thudded against my floor, a comforting noise that I had grown quite accustomed to. Although my eyes were closed, I could hear him sliding out of those boots so that he could crawl under the covers with me. His strong arms circled around me, his legs immediately entwining with mine in a way that made me grin distantly.

He placed a gentle kiss on my lips. "Baby, wake up."

His name for me amused me. Crinkling my nose, I cuddled closer to him. "Baby?"

Stefan laughed, and I could feel him shrug, the action allowing my head to fall in the center of his chest. I could distantly hear the gentle beat of his heart. "Lena," he chuckled. "Get ready… I have a surprise for you."

I could feel a smile curling on my lips, and finally, I allowed my eyes to drift open so that I was able to get a good look at the outline of his perfect face through the darkness. Somehow, I could see his green eyes shining even in the dark night, his unspoken love that wisped through the air reaching me like a gentle breeze. "What kind of surprise?"

"Don't you want an escape from reality?" he asked teasingly. I arched a brow, now feeling curious. Slowly and groggily I sat up and swung my legs over the bed, thankful when Stefan walked over to my drawer to grab an outfit for me. He pulled a dress from the third drawer and I nodded in approval, fighting back the urge to close my eyes again. With a yawn, I rested against Stefan as he lifted my night shirt off of my shoulders.

"You're wearing my shirt," he noted with a chuckle. I nodded.

"Mmhmm… I stole it from your room," I replied heavily. Stefan laughed at this, a low, melodic sound that even in my sleepy state had me instantly wanting him. Slowly and with his perfectly gentle touch, he pulled the dress over my head. Struggling to keep my eyes open, I pulled it down until it rested mid-thigh. "What time is it?"

Stefan zipped my dress up in the back, his fingers lightly brushing my bare skin as he did so. His simple, electrifying touch was enough to wake me even more. "A little after five," he replied, though it came out as a mumble, for his soft lips were now placing feather-light kisses along my shoulder. He pushed the dress strap aside slowly, and I didn't know if the delicious shiver that ran up my spine was from the cold air or his incredible touch.

"Mmm…" I was about to say something, but the words completely escaped me when he started nipping at my neck. How did he _do _that? God, the way it felt…

He pulled away and I groaned in protest, though it quickly turned to a pleased squeal. Within a second, he had me pinned underneath him on top of my unmade bed. I laughed when he kissed me quickly and asked, "Are you awake now?"

"Yes," I laughed softly. "I'm awake."

"Good," he smiled. "Get ready. I'll meet you outside at my car." With those words, Stefan placed another gentle kiss to my lips.

"'Kay," I sighed.

I grinned at him as he left my room. I walked into the bathroom and flipped the lights on, careful not to wake Jeremy. I took in my appearance and couldn't help but chuckle; I looked like a complete mess, with my hair matted and tussled, and heavy bags under my eyes from just waking up. It baffled me how Stefan could gaze at me as if I was the most beautiful woman in the world when I was looking like… this. I shook my head, quickly brushing my teeth and combing out my hair so that I was presentable. Within a few minutes, I was out the door and inside of Stefan's car—after he opened the door for me, of course.

He started the vintage Porsche, grinning softly in response to the familiar purr of the engine as we pulled away. He reached for my hand, and I instantly wove my fingers through his as we drove in a comfortable silence.

Within about a half hour, we arrived at the Washington DC airport. My eyes widened when I realized exactly where we were, my gaze searching Stefan's face for any sign of nervousness; there was none. "Stefan, we can't just leave town. What about Jeremy and…"

He laughed and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. "I already told everyone where we were going."

I eyed him skeptically. "What about my clothes?"

His smile grew. "Packed."

"And school?"

"It's Saturday," he chuckled, bringing the back of my hand to his velvet lips. "I promise, Elena, everything's taken care of. You don't need to worry about _anything_."

With a smile, I nodded my head, opened the car door and entered the airport with Stefan's arm protectively around me.

We got through airport security fairly quickly. The men working there got annoyed with Stefan when he forgot to take off his damned boots and put them in the bin, but he smoothly talked his way out of it, as usual. I laughed and rolled my eyes, telling him we needed to go shoe shopping for sneakers, because those stupid boots were always causing problems. It was a good thing they looked so good on him or I would have gotten rid of them a long time ago.

"Are you ever going to tell me where we're going?" I said as we made our way to our terminal.

"Yes," he replied simply. "When we get there."

I rolled my eyes. "Can I have a hint?"

"Nope," he answered with a sly grin. "Trust me, you'll like it." Finally, we reached terminal B and he made sure to sit us somewhere far away so that I couldn't see the sign with the location. My mind spun with possible options, from a little house somewhere on the lakeside, to a little skiing lodge in Vermont…

I slid into Stefan's lap, my head falling on his chest, his steady heartbeat filling my thoughts. "I'm sure I'll love it," I whispered as I closed my eyes to concentrate on him and only him. I buried my face in his shirt and inhaled deeply, reveling in the soft scent of a spring morning when it rained. I could feel him resting his chin on the top of my head followed by the sound of a content sigh escaping his lips. Smiling dreamily, I began to count how many times his heart thumped. One… two…Three… Until I was soundly asleep in his arms.

The next thing I knew, I was being woken up by Stefan's soft whispers of "Elena, wake up," and "We're here, Love."

I forced myself to sit up and look around confusedly. The very first thing I recognized was the gray interior of a crowded airplane. "Where are we?" I turned to face my vampire boyfriend –whose lap I was still in-, my eyes questioning.

Stefan grinned brightly. "Welcome to Grand Cayman."

My jaw dropped. "You took me to the Caribbean?" I looked at Stefan, trying to see any signs of trickery, but there was none. Excitedly, I slid off of his lap to look at the window. The very first thing that I saw was a palm tree, willowing with green leaves at the very top. The sky was so blue and the air looked so warm and calm that it made my heart rush with joy, feeling like a little kid waking up on Christmas. "It looks beautiful!" I pretty much shouted. Without even thinking, I grabbed Stefan's face and kissed him as hard as I possibly could, unable to contain the fact that my heart was bursting with love for him. He heard that I needed an escape, and that's exactly what he gave me. An escape from reality, a beautiful escape from reality spent entirely with him. A personal getaway for us was far overdue.

The second our lips met, I felt my body rush with a jolt of electricity. I could feel the raw passion in his kiss, and I eagerly returned it. What was meant to be a thankful peck was quickly turning to something far more heated and _desperate_, involving hair pulling and muffled sounds coming from him that didn't even remotely sound human as our lips battled for dominance. I completely forgot about where we were, until a flight attendant came over and politely cleared her throat. We both pulled away, looking at her polite but aggravated face. I could feel a blush coming to my cheeks, and felt extremely thankful when Stefan apologized for us. I was pretty sure that after the intensity of that kiss I forgot how to speak.

We quickly got off of the plane after that, grabbed our luggage from the claim, and picked up the rental car that Stefan chose in advance. I had to admit that it was perfect in every way; the car was a light blue convertible jaguar. I didn't even want to know how much he paid to get it.

It was a short drive to the hotel, and I couldn't decide what to stare at on the ride: the incredible scenery surrounding us or Stefan's supernaturally beautiful face. I decided I'd have enough time to take in the island later. After all, it was clear I wouldn't be concentrating much on the view anyways since my mind was full of thoughts now circling around him. He looked so perfect, with his green eyes somehow shining through those dark sunglasses, his hands gripping the steering wheel in a way that made his lapis ring glimmer in the sunlight. "You're staring," he said after a little while, smiling softly as he kept his eyes on the road.

I giggled. "I'm gazing."

"It's creepy," he commented.

"It's romantic."

Stefan quickly took his eyes off of the road to glance at me lovingly. I gave him a gentle smile in response, remembering the morning we said those exact words to each other so long ago. I exhaled happily and sunk back into the seat, my mind wandering to other sweet memories I had shared with him.

Soon we arrived at the grand hotel and my eyes widened. "This is beautiful," I gasped.

"Yup," he answered smugly.

"Stefan," I breathed. "You didn't have to do all of this for me."

He leaned over and kissed me, a gentle touch of the lips that nevertheless had me wanting more. "I did my research. This is the most romantic place on the whole island."

I smiled and shook my head at this, deciding that I was going to pay for every single date we had for the rest of eternity.

Checking in was simple. Stefan got us two key cards and handed me one –which I absently accepted since I was too busy staring at the lobby in awe– then we made our way to the elevator. Even _that _looked incredible, with glass on every side, giving us an incredible view of the ocean outside as it ascended up. I didn't get much of a look at it though, since Stefan's lips collided with mine as soon as the elevator doors closed.

We kissed until we reached our floor. Actually, even that didn't stop us.

Struggling with our luggage to get through the hall without our lips parting was quite an ordeal, but it was definitely worth it. He had to pull away briefly so that he could find our room; luckily, we were already right there. With a quiet moan, he let his lips crash against mine again in a fiery collision. My back hit the door with a _thud_, making me giggle into the kiss. "Stefan," I mumbled, pulling away barely an inch. "We should probably go inside."

He chuckled. "Right." With fumbling fingers, he grabbed his key and slid it through the door. The light went from red to green and I opened it, helping him get our luggage in. I was instantly enveloped in the comforting scent of soap and tropical air. The afternoon breeze filled the room, entwining with the ends of my hair, gently allowing it to flow behind me. I closed my eyes.

I relaxed even more when I felt Stefan's lips trailing along my shoulder to my neck so softly I could hardly feel it. "I love you," he whispered. He continued to kiss up the column of my throat in a way that had by body melting against his. "I love you," he said again.

"I love you too," I managed to get out, his lips now trailing along my jaw line. I turned myself around and pressed my lips to his in a kiss replete with passion and desire, but gentle and loving nonetheless.

His arms wrapped around my waist, pulling my body against his, closing any gaps between us. My fingers roped in his hair and our searing kiss quickly deepened. It wasn't long before we fell onto the bed, our limbs tangling together in a perfect blur of passion and desire.

…

"It felt cool!" Stefan argued playfully as we walked along the edge of the water, sharing a towel. We had just returned from a boat ride through some snorkeling locations, one of which including a place where we had contact with at least a hundred stingrays.

"It felt weird. They were slimy," I laughed and gazed out into the sunset in the horizon. "I can't believe that we have to go home tomorrow. We just got here." Our getaway couldn't last very long and was almost over; we had school to get back to on Monday and it was already Saturday night. We were leaving tomorrow night, and I just wanted to enjoy this perfect moment while it lasted, along with the perfect man I was spending it with.

"We can always come back for spring break. Bring everybody too," he offered. I smiled in approval and rested my head on Stefan's broad shoulder, running my thumb along the back of his hand.

"Let's just enjoy this while it lasts," I said. Stefan nodded and pulled me even closer to him. He placed a kiss on my forehead.

"I love you so much, Elena," he whispered into my ear for the hundredth time that day. I didn't mind at all though; his words seemed to make my heart grow more and more every time he said them.

"I love you, Stefan." I turned my head to kiss the corner of his neck, and then playfully licked a drop of salty water from his skin. I could feel him shiver in response; I knew it drove him crazy when I did that.

So, with a devious grin, I did it again.

Stefan swallowed thickly and looked down at me, his eyes glazed over in an expression I knew far too well: desire. I giggled, leaning up on the tips of my toes to make my face level with his. Teasingly and playfully, I lightly captured his bottom lip with my teeth, emitting a growl deep from his chest. With a laugh, I pulled away, dropped the towel and ran into the water as fast as I possibly could. I could practically feel Stefan roll his eyes jokingly as he sped after me.

His arms wound around my waist from behind, lifting me from the water with a splash. "Stefan!" I squealed happily, turning my head to kiss him with an overwhelming love and happiness. Instantly, he set me back on my feet and held me close to him as our lips gracefully danced together.

We stayed like that all night, our lips refusing to part under the romantic influence of the tropical moon.

It was crazy… to think that I loved him more and more every second of every day, but it was true.

I guess that's what happens when you've fallen in love with your soul mate.

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><p><em><strong>AN: I hope you liked it! This was just a light one-shot, full of SE fluff! I had a lot of fun writing it, and to the Anon who requested it, I hope you liked it! :D<strong>_

_**Please review and let me know your thoughts on this fic! Should I write more one-shots like this?**_

_**Thanks! Happy holidays!**_

_**Xoxo,**_

_**Sara**_


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